Bonds
by Ciisera
Summary: Rapunzel and Mother Gothel watch the lanterns for Rapunzel's sixth birthday, when Rapunzel finally decides she's going to be a "big girl". One-shot.


'Mummy, Mummy, look outside!' Rapunzel squealed, pulling on her mother's sleeve. 'The lanterns have come back again!'

Mother Gothel sighed and, looking exasperated, pulled herself up from her seat. She let Rapunzel steer her to the window and looked out obediently. Sure enough, hundreds and hundreds of lanterns filled the sky, surrounded by a dull, golden glow.

Gothel had never understood Rapunzel's fascination with the things. She looked down at the little girl, who was resting her head on her arms and smiling. To Gothel, they were simply candles encased in a shield of cheap parchment, not something anyone would get excited about. Rapunzel, however, seemed to worship the damn things. They were released every year and each time Rapunzel would beg Gothel to let her stay up just to catch a glimpse of them. Gothel supposed that, in the long run, she didn't really mind. The only problem was that Rapunzel always insisted she should watch them too.

'OK, honey, you've seen them now,' she said, exaggerating her yawn. 'Go to bed.'

'They've only just visited!' Rapunzel said, pouting.

'It's very late, pet.' She glanced at the clock. 'See, it's twelve o' clock already. If you want to grow up healthy and beautiful like me, you'll want to have lots of sleep.'

As Rapunzel stared uncertainly at the clock, Gothel silently scanned her face. The girl was so uncannily similar to her mother that Gothel couldn't help feeling a tiny bit guilty for taking her away from her true home. However, desperate times called for desperate measures. What else could she have done? Anyone else would've done the same.

Besides, it was the Queen's fault Rapunzel had been stolen anyway. Had she not taken Gothel's flower for her own selfish reasons, none of this would have ever happened. So it wasn't as if the Queen was exactly innocent, either.

Content with this thought, she looked down at her daughter and realised that she had been absent-mindedly stroking her hair. Her beautiful golden hair. Gothel couldn't help loving it more than the girl herself.

'Can you help me with something, Rapunzel?' she asked.

Rapunzel looked both doubtful and surprised. 'Can I?'

'I think so.' She crouched down on the floor so that she and Rapunzel were eye-to-eye. 'You know that, every time the lanterns visit, it's your birthday. Right?'

A smile appeared on Rapunzel's face and she nodded vigorously.

'Do you know how old you are?'

Rapunzel thought for a moment. 'Six.'

'Correct!' Gothel ruffled her hair and then immediately flattened it again. 'You're a big girl now, and that means that you should listen to your mother when she tells you to do something. You're grown-up enough to understand that, right? Otherwise, I'll have to treat you like a baby and I'm sure you don't want that.'

'Maybe I do,' Rapunzel said, but she looked indignant.

'No, I don't think you do.' Gothel smiled. 'Otherwise, I'll have to get rid of your birthday present since it's for grown-up girls, not little ones.'

'You got me a present?' Rapunzel gasped and clapped her hands. 'I want it! Oh, please can I have it?'

'Hmm … well …' Gothel pretended to think about it, her head on one side.

'Pleeeeeeeease?'

'I have an idea,' Gothel said. 'If you get changed into your nightgown and go to bed I may _consider _giving you your present early, but –'

Before Gothel had even had time to finish, Rapunzel raced off upstairs into her bedroom. Chuckling, Gothel drew the curtains, covering the last of the ghastly lanterns. Then, very quietly, she lifted up a loose piece of wood, took something out of the large gap it left in the floor, and followed her daughter.

Rapunzel had already gotten dressed when she entered the room. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, her hands in her lap. She grinned up at Gothel expectantly. 'Mummy, Mummy, do you have it? Is it a new book? A new _insumeet_?'

'I think you mean "instrument", dear,' Gothel said, holding the thing behind her back. 'And, no, it's none of those. I've gotten you something very special.'

Rapunzel leaned forward as Gothel stood in front of her and gently placed her present in her outstretched palms: a green, very confused-looking chameleon.

Rapunzel screeched, scaring both the chameleon and Gothel, causing the former to jump from her hands and race under the bed. 'Sorry!' Rapunzel said, her cheeks reddening.

'It's nothing to worry about, dear, nothing at all,' Gothel replied, retrieving the animal from where it crouched by the wall. She handed it back to Rapunzel and, after the chameleon had finally calmed down, said, 'I know how much you wanted a pet, sweetie. And I decided that you were now old enough to properly look after one. I don't think he'll be too much hassle; he seems very smart for what he – er – is.' She smiled, choosing not to say that he was the first animal she had seen that day. This obviously meant that she wouldn't have to go out and buy something that Rapunzel would get sick of soon. Besides, he was only a chameleon, not something like a puppy or cat that required actual care. 'I had to keep him in a very small space all day, unfortunately, so he's very tired. I knew that if I put him anywhere else, you'd probably find him.'

Rapunzel brought him closer to her face. He had settled down completely now and actually looked like he was enjoying getting so much attention. No, that was stupid. Chameleons didn't think like humans. Gothel was obviously just telling herself stupid stories.

'I love him!' Rapunzel squeaked, hugging the chameleon to her face. Gothel grimaced – imagine how many germs the thing had! – but Rapunzel didn't seem to care at all. 'What do you think I should call him, Mummy? I can't think of anything!'

'Why don't you name him after someone in one of those books you're always reading?' Gothel suggested.

'Cinderella?'

'No, no, that's a lady's name. This chameleon is a boy.'

'Oh.' Rapunzel stroked her pet quietly. 'There's a boy in one of my favourite books called Pascal. I think it's a good name, and it must be a boy's name if a boy has it. Do you like it?'

Gothel didn't really care; the thing would probably die soon anyway and, after all, what was the point of naming a creature? But she couldn't say any of this to Rapunzel, of course; it would only upset her. So instead she smiled and said, 'it's a very good name. It suits him wonderfully.'

'That's settled it, then!' Rapunzel put the chameleon on her bedside table and said, surprisingly sternly, 'so your new name is Pascal! Pascal, it's time for bed now. Go to sleep.'

Pascal immediately closed his eyes and Rapunzel beamed, though Gothel doubted him sleeping had anything to do with her command. 'I think I should say the same to you, Rapunzel.' She kissed the top of Rapunzel's head and pulled the duvet up to her shoulders. 'Goodnight, pet.'

'Goodnight, Mummy.' She glanced over at Pascal and uttered a tired, 'goodnight, pet'. Then, she dropped her head on her pillow, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Gothel watched her for a few minutes, then quietly left the room. As she descended down the stairs, she frowned to herself. Was she really beginning to love the girl lying in the room upstairs? She had told herself again and again that she only kept Rapunzel out of necessity, not of affection. Then again, she had never treated Rapunzel as well as she had been recently. Perhaps she was –

A sudden burst of wind blew the curtains up, and once again Gothel looked out. Only one lone lantern drifted in the sky, gradually disappearing behind the clouds.

Gothel strode over to the window and pulled the curtains back with such force that they almost broke. Her face paler than usual, she looked back up at Rapunzel's bedroom and grimaced. No, there was no fondness in their relationship at all – from her point of view, at least. She only kept Rapunzel for her hair. Nothing more.

**A/N – Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! I know it's very short and not very good. Feedback is always appreciated! **


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